This poem is an Animated Still. Animated stills are poems where inanimate objects take on human, animal, or spirit forms, traits, or articles. They are derived from Photographs I have taken, that have moved me to write a poem associated with it. They require a close look at the photograph, and some imagination, to spot them. In this case, focus on the trunk of the tree. I see a set of crossed legs that instigate a female form with arms raised. The left arm is bent at the elbow. Hope you see it too. The photo was taken just before sunset, when the sun was low and the shadows are long.

Dryad - In Greek mythology, the Dryads are female spirits of nature (nymphs), who preside over the groves and forests. Each one is born with a certain tree over which she watches. A Dryad either lives in a tree, in which case she is called a hamadryad, or close to it. The lives of the Dryads are connected with that of the trees; should the tree perish, then she dies with it. If this is caused by a mortal, the gods will punish him for that deed. The Dryads themselves will also punish any thoughtless mortal who would somehow injure the trees.
Euridice, - (pronounced you-RI-dike), was an oak nymph or one of the daughters of Apollo (the god of music, prophecy, and light, who also drove the sun chariot, 'adopting' the power as god of the Sun from the primordial god Helios). Thus my reference to wanting a final warm embrace in her father's trail.
En Haut - is a reference to a ballet arm position, where the arms are raised with one arm bent at elbow pointing up, and the other tailing out from the shoulder behind.
Arret - a french term used in ballet meaning to hold position in a long pause.

This format is a Modified Awdl Gwyd., wherein the inline rhyme's position floats, and the syllable count changes from 7 to 8. This poem is written in iambic tetrameter where the rhyme in lines 1 and 3 are repeated in line 2 and 4. So the rhyme scheme is a,ab,a,ab - c,cd,c,cd - e,ef,e,ef - g,gh,g,gh.

This photograph was taken by the author himself on July 17, 2016.

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